Ask HN: Pocket Server for Digital Nomads | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Pocket Server for Digital Nomads

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Hi All,

So I am considering an idea that I may want to work on for 2020, but I wanted to get some feedback on it first, to see if it's a pain point that others have.

I want to have a pocket sized Linux server with 2 X M.2 SSD slots for a RAID1 setup, on board SD card readers for Full Size and Micro SD cards, and on board WiFi, and build in battery that will allow it to run without external power for 10 hours or so, and of course, onboard gigabit Ethernet.

The pain point is having access to a local, RAID 1 redundant, small and portable server for development, backup, Camera SD card file management, and basically having a pocket sized (size of a cigarette pack or current RPi) Linux system that I can use from an iPad or any other device.

I am considering using RPi Compute module for the CPU/RAM and make a custom motherboard with 2 X M.2, WiFi, and SD card slots on board. I have experience designing hardware like that, and could probably build it in 60 days and through it on Kickstarter or such.

But I would really appreciate some feedback first. Do you see your self buying such a device? What would you use it for? What would you want it to have? Do you want to work on it with me? How much would you pay for such a server?

Thank you for the attention and I appreciate all feedback.

I think I imagine me buying a device like that, but not sure if I actually would. In some way the cards are attractive, but also would be a considerable nuisance in conception when thinking of the device so that I would forebear at the final point of purchase.

I am more learning towards something like an Ocean server https://getocean.now.sh/ but I would like there to be some tool to easily associate it with a wireless monitor and keyboard. By easily I mean no more cumbersome than it is to plug in a wired device, which seems unlikely to be the case.

Ocean server is pretty close to what I want, just doesn't have the storage I would like to have, and the CPU is a bit slow.

Currently I use RPi 4. I plug it into the USB-C port on my iPad and it's picked up by iOS as an Ethernet gadget. The RPi acts as a router and has a static IP address over USB. So all I have to do is use a VMC app to connect to it. It's as simple as plugging in one cable and starting one app.

I want to stick with RPi architecture because I want it to be really flexible for people to use any of the Raspberry Pi compatible distributions on it.

The SD cards are mostly for video production. I want to have a one button clear SD card feature, where I can insert an SD card, press one physical button, and a script would copy all of the files from an SD card to the destination directory on the main SSD storage drive, and then empty the card. There would be an LED light to indicate progress.

Maybe I am making something only I would really care about here. Thank you for the feedback.

> Maybe I am making something only I would really care about here. Thank you for the feedback.

I would like to have something like you mention, but for pictures.

I have a ton of family pictures to process (and back up) and that kind of server would be great just to clean the SD cards (and make a cloud copy of everything, btw).

I guess, you're not alone ;-)

I have that need and I do work offline, but I just use an extra cheap device like a Windows tablet. It's useless for interactive work, but works fine as a node server. That reminds me, it runs Win 10, so I might try deploying Win 10 Ubuntu on it.

I don't think this device is needed. I can just as easily use a Chromebook, which can run a full Linux development environment, and not tie up my iPad as an extra screen.

There are products in the market to dump SD card onto a storage device with one button, although you could just use a GPIO pin and add a switch to your Pi to accomplish that.

I saw you did a Kickstarter so you may have this info already... anyway.

I’d check out crowd supply for a maybe more “on target” audience and also the beaglebone, open and perhaps easier to tweak.

If the target is travelers, raid/camera sd seems a pretty good idea. Battery seems just a logistical nightmare to handle, I’d make it work with one of the various phone external batteries (assuming powerful enough).

What price point are you targeting?

I had a similar need and scrapped the dedicated server and went with a Lenovo P1 Gen 2. It even supports RAID 1 with two m.2 NVMe ports. Since I needed a laptop anyway, it was one less device to carry around.

Also, it should probably be packaged in a consumer friendly looking case otherwise it may be scrutinized by transportation and border security.

I probably would not buy it. Without the internet, I can’t work at all. With the internet I don’t see the device’s value compared to a vps.

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